Ashley (New Zealand electorate)
Ashley was a New Zealand electorate situated north of Christchurch. It was in use from 1866 to 1902, and was replaced with the Hurunui electorate.
Population centres
In the 1865 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives focussed its review of electorates to South Island electorates only, as the Central Otago Gold Rush had caused significant population growth, and a redistribution of the existing population. Fifteen additional South Island electorates were created, including Ashley, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70.[1]
The Ashley electorate was formed from a corner of Cheviot electorate, and included the towns of Ashley, Amberley, and Oxford. The electorate's boundaries remained roughly the same until the 1881 elections, when it expanded slightly into Kaiapoi electorate and Amberley was returned to Cheviot. In the 1887 elections, the electorate expanded westwards into Cheviot's southern tip. In the 1890 elections, Cheviot itself was abolished, and the majority of its territory was absorbed into Ashley — to compensate, territory was taken from Ashley in the south and given to Kaiapoi. In the 1893 elections, Ashley expanded further north, taking the town of Kaikoura from Wairau electorate, but ceded Oxford to Kaiapoi in the south. In the 1902 elections, Ashley was dissolved, being replaced with an electorate called Hurunui, covering much the same area.
History
The first representative was Lancelot Walker, who won the 1866 election. Walker resigned in the following year[2] and was succeeded by Henry Tancred in the 1867 by-election.[3]
Tancred retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1870[3] and was succeeded by John Evans Brown.[2]
In the 1890 election, the electorate was contested by Richard Meredith, James Dupré Lance and John George Knight,[4] who received 648, 611 and 137 votes, respectively. Meredith was thus declared elected.[5]
Members of Parliament
Key
Independent Liberal
| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1866 election | Lancelot Walker | |
| 1867 by-election | Henry Tancred [3] | |
| 1871 election[6] | John Brown | |
| 1876 election[7] | ||
| 1879 election[8] | William Moorhouse | |
| 1881 election | William Pearson | |
| 1884 election | ||
| 1887 election | ||
| 1888 by-election | John Verrall | |
| 1890 election | Richard Meredith | |
| 1893 election | ||
| 1896 election | ||
| 1899 election | ||
Election results
1899 election
| General election, 1899: Ashley[9] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Richard Meredith | 1,943 | 61.98 | ||
| Opposition | Thomas Caverhill | 1,192 | 38.02 | ||
| Majority | 751 | 23.96 | |||
| Turnout | 3,135 | 70.15 | |||
| Registered electors | 4,469 | ||||
1893 election
| General election, 1893: Ashley[10][11][12] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Richard Meredith | 1,668 | 58.84 | +12.61 | |
| Opposition | David Duncan Macfarlane | 1,078 | 38.02 | ||
| Liberal | David Dick | 89 | 3.14 | ||
| Majority | 590 | 20.81 | +18.51 | ||
| Turnout | 2,835 | 70.42 | |||
1888 by-election
| Ashley by-election, 1888[13][14] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Independent | John Verrall | 234 | 33.86 | +21.67 | |
| Independent | Alfred Saunders | 232 | 33.57 | ||
| Independent | Marmaduke Dixon[15][16] | 225 | 32.56 | ||
| Majority | 2 | 0.29 | -27.21 | ||
| Turnout | 691 | ||||
1887 election
| General election, 1887: Ashley[17][18] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Independent | William Fisher Pearson | 501 | 57.65 | ||
| Independent | Robert Luke Higgins | 262 | 30.15 | ||
| Independent | John Verrall | 106 | 12.20 | ||
| Majority | 239 | 27.50 | |||
| Turnout | 869 | 58.96 | |||
| Registered electors | 1,474 | ||||
Notes
- ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 36.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wilson 1985.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Parton, H. N. "Tancred, Henry John". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ↑ "Ashley Electoral District". The Press. XLVIL (7721). 28 November 1890. p. 8. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ↑ "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ↑ "The General Elections". The Star (852). 20 February 1871. p. 3. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ "Ashley Polling". The Star (2435). 12 January 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ↑ "The General Assembly Elections". XXIII (3454). Grey River Argus. 13 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
- ↑ "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ↑ "The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- ↑ "Election Notices". The Press L (8656). 4 December 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- ↑ "Ashley". The Star (4813). 29 November 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- ↑ "Page 1 Advertisements Column 5". The Press XLV (7124). 21 July 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ "Ashley Election". The Press XLV (7132). 31 July 1888. p. 5. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ Scholefield 1940, pp. 209f.
- ↑ "Marmaduke Dixon – 1828–1895". Waimakariri Libraries. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ "The General Election, 1887". National Library. 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ↑ "Ashley". The Press XLIV (6861). 20 September 1887. p. 6. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
References
- McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
- Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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